Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel use of Etoposide-induced protein 2.4 homolog (EI24) involved in the improvement of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) drug resistance by inhibiting Insulin growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) signaling.
Discussion of Related Art
Cancer-related research has been rapidly advanced for the last several decades and thus most cancers can be completely cured when detected early. Recently, through understanding of molecular biological mechanisms instead of existing chemotherapy, receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors using such molecular biological mechanisms have been used as a core technique for targeted treatments, and many pharmaceutical firms actually have released RTK drugs for various carcinomas. While such targeted therapies exhibit significant effects for a certain period of time, the therapies ultimately exhibit resistance to anticancer drugs and rather aggressive behaviors. Thus, overcoming resistance to anticancer drugs still remains elusive in cancer treatment fields.
Meanwhile, EI24 is a p53-responsive gene and known as a pro-apoptotic gene that induces apoptosis. EI24 genes are known to play an important role in carcinogenesis and metastasis, and thus research thereinto is actively ongoing. The inventors of the present application have already discovered a correlation between the EI24 gene and protein expression levels and metastasis through previous research (Korean Patent No. 10-1213033).
However, the use of EI24 related to anticancer drug resistance is not known to date.